Despite the objection of US on the “Buy Indian” mandate, reportedly the Indian government will stay on the same path and reveal proposed regulations to create subsidies and further encourage the “Buy Indian” mandate. This will be aid in promoting the country’s solar-power sector. US reacted adversely to the news because foreign players supply the majority of parts as of now and promoting Indian players will hurt their business.
Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary, Ministry of new and renewable energy told Wall Street Journal that the new rules will extend local content requirements, which so far have been restricted to a type of technology known as silicon wafers, to thin-film cells as well.
“However, the rules are still in a draft form and will be finalised within a few weeks. We have invited comments from various stakeholders,” Kapoor added.
It is a known fact that India is undergoing an energy crisis of sorts with 400 million residing in rural areas having no access to any form of electricity. Many of these households use kerosene to cook their food as well as to light up their homes.
We recently reported about an announcement by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh who said the country will double its renewable energy capacity to 55,000 megawatts by 2017 from 25,000 megawatts last year. According to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, investments in 2012 fell 45 per cent, to $6.9 billion. On the contrary, China’s clean-energy sector got nearly 10 times more, up 20 per cent from the previous year.
Kapoor concluded by saying, “Under the new plan, 750 megawatts of new solar power plants will be built within the next 18 months, most likely in areas that aren’t connected to the grid or in places that have grid connections but inadequate power supplies.”
